'Mummy, look!' my four-year-old daughter is fond of saying. She's often pointing something out to me - from the back seat of the car on the pre-school run, or when I'm rushing between shops, clutching her reluctant hand.
Sophie Nicholls
'Mummy, look at this,' she says. And I'm ashamed to say that I sometimes catch myself sighing inwardly. I don't have time to stop. I'm much too busy.
But then I remember that it's these small moments, the times when I remember to slow down and really notice the world around me, that are what matters most.
Writing has always helped me to do this. As a writer, it's crucial to be able to really look at and be present in the world: to listen to that overheard conversation on the bus and store it away for later; to think about how exactly to describe the blue of that sky or the heavy roundness of this orange I'm holding in my palm.
Writing helps me to wonder at the world - to really look at it, purposefully and deliberately and to savour it with the delight of a four-year-old. This kind of really looking is the perfect antidote to our crazy-busy modern lives.
In my novel, The Dress, my character, Fabia Moreno, knows how to relish such tiny details. She calls them 'everyday magic' and she lives her life with this attention to the moment, transforming the lives of her customers in her vintage dress shop.
'The world is full of magic when you know where to look,' says Fabia. 'It's in the river, the way it moves and in that pot of basil on the windowsill, the way the leaves know exactly how to grow, how to create themselves… and it's in this fabric here, the way it has a flow and a feeling all of its own when I move my needle through it…'
For Fabia, everyday magic is about noticing the good that is always present in our everyday lives, taking pleasure in the small things that are so easily overlooked as we power through our 'to do' list or rush from one appointment to another.
My little girl won't be little for much longer. The tug of her hand on mine reminds me that it's when I'm feeling run down, frantic and exhausted that I most need to slow down and notice the everyday magic all around me.
'Look,' she says. 'Look.' And when I do, I always discover something beautiful. The miniature purple flowers pushing up between the paving stones; the droplet of water in the shape of a heart; the robin making its nest in the hedge; the lucky penny; the sunlight bent through her favourite blue marble.
And when I notice, I breathe out. I find myself smiling.
I'm collecting my everyday magic with a hashtag on Instagram. If you need to pause for a moment, if you'd like to spread some much-needed #everydaymagic, please do share yours with me. Sometimes, the simple act of stopping and looking and capturing a moment on your phone makes the difference between a bad day and a good one.
